


A Life In Asshai

by EdinaSaunders



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-07
Updated: 2019-02-07
Packaged: 2019-10-24 01:23:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17694911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EdinaSaunders/pseuds/EdinaSaunders
Summary: The final battle has come to an end. Cersei's wounded, near death, but there’s a savior coming for her and her unborn child.





	A Life In Asshai

Cersei lie bleeding on the floor of the throne room. Her vision blurred as her eyes became dilated. She was going to bleed out on this floor and she knew it. And it was Jaime, he had done this to her. He’d been the one to plunge the dagger into her. He’d betrayed her just like everyone else. It had been the stupid northern girl and that lady knight. They’d turned him against her. If she wasn’t dying, she’d have them both slaughtered, as she should have done long ago. Jaime had stabbed her, but could not finish the job. Instead, he had left her here to die. Weak. He’d always been weak. 

Cersei closed her eyes. Even the pressure she’d applied to her wound hadn’t stopped the bleeding much. No one was coming to save her. Her children were gone, her allies were out fighting and dying on the battlefield and the family she did have left –not counting the unborn child growing inside her– hated her. She could have seen this coming from anyone, anyone except Jaime.

Blinking her eyes back open slowly, she saw red. She expected it was the red of the seven hells come to claim her in their eternal flames. Then a pain came from her wound. More pressure, one stronger than her own hand had been. She’d let up her grip when the blood loss took away her strength. Cersei hissed in pain, briefly becoming more alert then she had been, until the pain became too much and the world went black.

Days passed for Melisandre in patient silence. Cersei slept for four or five days already and in that time Melisandre treated and dressed her wound regularly. It appeared to be healing, albeit slowly. She’d still be in a lot of pain when she did wake up. The waters of the Summer Sea had been kind, much kinder than those of the Narrow Sea. She was glad Cersei had slept through that. The winds were in their favor now and they’d be arriving at Asshai ahead of schedule.

Still several days off from Asshai's port, Cersei finally stirred. "Your Grace, it’s nice to see you awake," Melisandre said.

"Where am I," Cersei demanded. "Where are you tak–" her question was cut short when she attempted to sit up. The wound was still affecting her and it would still be a considerable amount of time before she’d be back to normal.

"You are on a ship, sailing over the Summer Sea. Soon it will be the Jade Sea, before we arrive at Asshai."

"Asshai?!?" Cersei was outraged, confused and far too tired to have her words come out any harsher than an agitated choke, half caught in her throat.

"I thought it best to get you as far from King's Landing as I could. It is only truly safe if the people think you to be dead." Cersei let out a soft harrumph and fell into silence. Melisandre dismissed herself and came back with a meal. Cersei would be needing her strength, both to heal and for her baby.

More days passed and Cersei became more frustrated with her incapacitation. She should be back in King's Landing where she belonged, fighting to keep the throne that was rightfully hers, and yet here she was, sailing for the other side of the known world with the red witch. But she could not do anything to change her current circumstances, no matter how she wished it.

Finally, they arrived at the port of Asshai. Even in the daylight, everything looked grey. Melisandre, despite being from here, did not feel a sense of home as she looked out at the mountainous landscape, but she did feel safe, and safety, for her, for Cersei, and for the child, was her number one priority. "We've arrived," Melisandre informed Cersei. Cersei did not look particularly pleased. Melisandre offered her assistance to help Cersei to sit upright, and when she was ready, to get up and walk off the ship.

Not taking well to showing herself in a vulnerable state, Cersei only reluctantly accepted her help. She wouldn’t have, except that she knew she’d be needing it. Melisandre rested a hand on Cersei's back, helping her to lift and straighten without putting too much strain on her. Sitting upright, Cersei reached out and grabbed ahold of Melisandre's arm to keep steady. She felt light headed. Cersei's eyes met Melisandre's, conveying words she could not say. Help. She needed it more than she could ever admit to anyone and Melisandre was her only lifeline.

As they took their leave from the ship, it was slow going. Cersei gritted her teeth and put up a strong front, but inside she was nearly doubling over in pain. As soon as they were outside and safely ashore they rested against nearby stone. The cool, black rock kept Cersei upright, but the iron grip of Cersei's hand on her own told Melisandre that she wasn’t healing as well as she should have been.

Eventually Cersei says she’s able to move again, and Melisandre is able to walk her to an abandoned castle, left to become ruins, but still solid. This is where they’d stay for as long as they needed to. "Will you tell me what happened," Cersei asked, as Melisandre help her lay down on a bed.

"The Iron Throne fell to the..." Melisandre paused, rethinking her choice of phrase. Daenerys was not to be called the dragon queen, not in Cersei's presence. "The mother of dragons. I’m sorry, your grace. Asshai can be your home now, if you wish it. When you are healed, you may of course choose to leave, but for now I hope you will be comfortable."

Cersei nodded, trying to figure out the red woman's motivations. There had to be something in this for her. To have rescued her and brought her all the way to Asshai, there must be a reason for it. But she was too tired to ask her now.

With better access to supplies, Melisandre is able to improve upon the care she'd been giving to Cersei. Her wound could be more properly cleaned out, and bandaged up. Within a week of being in Asshai, it already showed more promise of healing. And Cersei slept less, looked as if she were in less pain.

Then a month went by. Cersei's hair was growing out again. It was to her chin these days. She was stronger, healthier and Melisandre could only hope happier as well. Asshai had been good for her. It was quiet and held no obligations for her. She could be anyone in Asshai, and though she knew that fact bothered the former queen, she also knew that it made for a better environment for her. One where she could heal her body and nurture the child inside it.

There were no children in Asshai, a fact Cersei mentally noted, but never addressed aloud. She would give birth here; instinctively she knew that. She could not return to King's Landing, she was aware of that too. Perhaps she could not even return to Westeros at all. No doubt the usurper would have her killed if it were to be known that she had survived.

So in Asshai she stayed. Melisandre became not only her rescuer and her protector, she became a confidant. At some point they had stopped referring to each other formally. No more 'your grace' and no more 'lady Melisandre'. They moved to a first name basis. And after the baby was born, their relationship shifted again.

Ariella Lannister was Cersei’s greatest joy and Melisandre quickly became like a second mother to her. Their abandoned castle had become a comfortable home, furnished with the finest things Asshai had to offer. Soon after her daughter had been born, Melisandre had moved into her bed. At first it was nothing more than for convenience. Melisandre would take care of Ariella sometimes in the night and it was just simpler for her to be there with the two of them. Over time, when Ariella began to sleep through the night, their routine didn’t change. Melisandre kept coming to Cersei's bed at night and gradually it went from a convenience to a comfort.

As Ariella grew, Cersei and Melisandre became lovers. Ariella called Melisandre mother, just as she did Cersei. But not everything was perfect. Cersei felt there was something missing. She adored her new family, and had even come to appreciate her new city, but she did miss the power. She’d be a different kind of queen now. She could balance ruthlessness with justice. Peace with war.

Melisandre knew she missed the throne. So, she chose the grandest room in the castle and ordered a throne to be built for Cersei. Asshai has never had a formal ruler, not as far back as Melisandre could remember. But perhaps it was time for a change.

"Mellie," Cersei laughed, as Melisandre walked her into what would be her new throne room, her hands covering Cersei's eyes. She lifted her hands away from Cersei’s face and Cersei blinked a couple of times before the great, black stone chair came into focus.

"It won’t happen overnight, and I haven’t gotten you a crown yet, but I’d just like to say happy name day, Cers. Long live the new Stone Queen of Asshai."

"And her consort the Red Queen of Asshai," Cersei declared.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my sixth fic for Femslash February 2019. If you’d like to see more for Cersei/Melisandre, please leave me requests. 
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Edina_Saunders_Prompt_Collection
> 
> Comments and Kudos are appreciated.
> 
> (There will be more chapters to this in the future.)


End file.
